JP4129706B2 - hearing aid - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hearing aid, and more particularly, to a hearing aid including an ear mold that can be easily inserted and removed.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The ear mold constitutes a portion to be inserted into the user's external auditory canal in the ear-shaped hearing aid. The ear mold has a function of preventing acoustic feedback caused by a reproduction sound leaking from the ear and returning to the microphone of the hearing aid when the ear-mounted hearing aid is worn, and improving acoustic characteristics.
[0003]
FIG. 2 shows a state where a conventional ear mold is inserted into the ear canal. In the following description, in the ear mold and its constituent members, the side inserted into the ear canal is referred to as the front end or the front side, and the entrance side of the ear canal is referred to as the rear side.
[0004]
This ear mold is composed of an ear mold main body 11 and a nylon tube 13. The ear mold body 11 is made of, for example, soft acrylic resin or silicon resin, and has a hole (sound hole) penetrating in the front-rear direction. The outer peripheral surface is in close contact with the wall of the ear canal from the hole 8 of the ear canal through the first curve 6 to the vicinity of the bone external ear canal 2. Further, the tip of the ear mold body 11 reaches almost immediately before the bone external auditory canal 2. The nylon tube 13 is bonded to the sound hole in order to acoustically connect to the hearing aid on the side of the hole 8 of the ear mold body 11.
[0005]
The ear mold body 11 normally reproduces the form of the ear canal almost faithfully based on the impression obtained by collecting the ear canal of the wearer, so that the ear canal is sealed when worn, and sound leakage can be prevented.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, since the ear mold seals the ear canal when worn, it is necessary to insert or remove while rotating in accordance with the bending of the ear canal when inserting into or removing from the ear canal. For this reason, it has been difficult for elderly people and infants who lack dexterity at their hands to insert or remove them. In addition, when the earmould is worn, the user's own voice can be heard. Therefore, the wearer often complains of discomfort when the wearer is relatively deaf.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and provides a hearing aid including an ear mold that can be easily inserted and removed by anyone and can suppress the fogging of the voice. For the purpose.
[0008]
In order to solve the above problems, the inventor of the present invention randomly selected 50 elderly persons (here 65 to 94 years old) and non-elderly persons (here 18 to 45 years old) and investigated their impressions. did. FIG. 3 shows the result of the investigation, and FIG. 4 shows portions corresponding to W (major axis), N (minor axis), and Angle (an ear canal angle) in this figure. Here, N / W is referred to as a flat rate. As shown in FIG. 3, the flatness of the ear canal was higher in the elderly (small N / W), but there was no difference between the two in the ear canal angle. In addition, many wrinkles were observed between the vicinity of the ear canal entrance of most elderly people and the vicinity of the second curve. However, no wrinkles could be observed near the second curve or deeper than that. Therefore, the reason why the conventional ear mold was difficult to wear for the elderly was not only lacking the dexterity of the above-mentioned hand, but also that it accurately reproduced the flat and wrinkled impression. This may be one of the causes. In addition, it is considered that howling is likely to occur because the bag is easily deformed.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Therefore, a hearing aid according to the present invention includes a sound insulation member having a shape that closely contacts the bone part external auditory canal wall surface or the vicinity thereof, a stabilization member having a shape that closely contacts the external auditory canal wall surface at or near the ear canal entrance, and the stability member. through to, wherein the stabilizing member at intervals from the tip to mount an earmold with a sound guide member which is inserted through to the sound insulating member. With this configuration, the rear end of the sound guide member (actually, a member that makes it easier to hold it by hand) can be held by hand, and the tip of the sound insulation member is inserted into the ear canal, and the stabilization member is inserted. It can be worn just by pressing until it comes into close contact with the hole. Moreover, it can be taken out by simply pulling the rear end of the sound guide member. Further, the sound insulation member can suppress howling and voice haze, and the stabilization member can stabilize wearing and howling. And since it is flat in an elderly person and there are many wrinkles and the 1st curve of complicated shape is not reproduced, manufacture of an ear mold becomes easy.
[0010]
Further, in the hearing aid according to the present invention, the sound insulation member is made of a material that is relatively hard at room temperature and softens at a temperature of about body temperature, thereby facilitating insertion and not causing pain during use. can do.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0012]
FIG. 1 shows a state in which the ear mold according to the embodiment of the present invention is inserted into the ear canal. The ear mold is provided with a sound insulating chip 1 at the tip and a stabilizer 3 on the rear side. The sound insulating chip 1 and the stabilization plate 3 are formed with holes penetrating in the front-rear direction (in the direction of the ear canal). The sound insulating chip 1 has an outer peripheral surface at the tip thereof in close contact with the wall surface of the bone external auditory canal 2 in front of the second curve 4. The outer periphery of the stabilizer 3 is in close contact with the wall surface of the entrance hole 8 of the ear canal. The tip of the nylon tube 5 is inserted into the through hole of the sound insulating chip 1, and further passes through the through hole opened in the stabilization plate 3 and reaches the outside of the ear canal. Here, the nylon tube 5 is bonded to the sound insulating chip 5 and the through hole of the stabilizing plate 3. That is, the ear mold according to the embodiment of the present invention is in close contact with the wall of the ear canal only in the vicinity of the external auditory canal second curve 4 and in the vicinity of the entrance hole 8, and in the vicinity of the first curve where there is a lot of wrinkles and is flat in the elderly. There is no contact with the wall of the ear canal. The sound insulation chip 1 is preferably made of a material (commonly known as thermosoft) that is relatively hard at room temperature and softens at a temperature of about body temperature. The stabilizer 3 may be the same material as the sound insulating chip 1 or may be an ordinary soft material or a hard material.
[0013]
The ear mold configured as described above has the following features (1) to (5).
[0014]
(1) The nylon tube 5 can be worn simply by holding the rear end of the nylon tube 5 by hand and inserting the tip of the sound insulating chip 1 into the ear canal and pushing until the stabilizer 3 comes into close contact with the hole 8. Moreover, when taking out, it is only necessary to pull the same part as when wearing it. In other words, it is not necessary to insert or withdraw while rotating like a conventional ear mold. For this reason, even an elderly person who lacks dexterity at the hand can easily insert and take out.
[0015]
(2) Since the ear mold main body is only the sound insulating chip 1 and the stabilizer 3, it has a simple structure with no portion that is in close contact with the first curve as in the prior art. And since the nylon tube 5 has reached to the front-end | tip of an ear mold main body, it has sufficient intensity | strength in spite of being a simple structure.
[0016]
(3) Since the sound insulating chip 1 is in close contact with the bone external auditory canal 2 in the vicinity of the second curve 4, it is possible to suppress howling and cloudiness of the voice.
[0017]
(4) If the ear mold is made of a hard material and is in close contact with the bone external auditory canal 2, the external auditory canal is deformed when the mouth is moved, which is painful. In order to avoid this, if it is made of a soft material that does not cause pain, insertion becomes difficult. In the embodiment of the present invention, as described above, the sound insulating chip 1 is made of a material that is relatively hard at room temperature and softens at a temperature of about body temperature. I was not accompanied.
[0018]
(5) Since the stabilizing plate 3 that is in close contact with the hole portion 8 is provided, the wearing state is stabilized and howling can be further suppressed.
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, the hearing aid according to the present invention has the effects described in (a) to (e) below.
[0020]
(A) The user can wear the sound guide member by holding the rear end portion of the sound guide member with his hand, putting the tip of the sound insulation member into the ear canal, and pushing until the stabilizing member comes into close contact with the hole. Moreover, it can be taken out by simply pulling the rear end of the sound guide member.
[0021]
(B) The sound insulation member can suppress howling and cloudiness of the voice, and the stabilizing member can suppress wearing and howling.
[0022]
(C) Since the vicinity of the first curve having a complicated shape is not reproduced, the structure becomes simple and the wearing of the ear mold becomes easy.
[0023]
(D) The sound insulation member is made of a material that is relatively hard at room temperature and softens at a temperature of about body temperature, thereby facilitating insertion and avoiding pain perception during use.
[0024]
(E) A hearing aid that can be easily inserted and removed by anyone and has a good feeling of use can be realized at low cost.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state where an ear mold according to an embodiment of the present invention is inserted into an external auditory canal;
FIG. 2 is a view showing a state where a conventional ear mold is inserted into the ear canal,
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the results of a survey and comparison of impressions of elderly and non-elderly people
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing each part of an impression and its name.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sound insulation tip 2 Bone part external auditory canal 3 Stabilizing plate 4 2nd curve 5 Nylon tube 6 1st curve 8 Entrance part

Claims (2)

A stabilizing member having a sound insulating member having a shape that adheres to bone ear canal wall or near, the shape in close contact with the ear canal wall in the ear canal in hole portion or the vicinity thereof, through the stabilizing member, spacing from the stabilizing member hearing aid, characterized in that the tip portion spaced to mount an earmold with a sound guide member which is inserted through to the sound insulating member. The hearing aid according to claim 1, wherein the sound insulating member is made of a material that is relatively hard at room temperature and softens at a temperature of about body temperature.

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